The Evidence of Things Not Seen
by Random Tea Room
Summary: Contrary to popular belief, his skin was cold against hers; she was the one on fire beneath him. Post-war Zutara.


Title: The Evidence of Things Not Seen

Summary: Contrary to popular belief, his skin was cold against hers; she was the one on fire beneath his touch.

Notes: Are we really surprised it's angst? If I ever get the inspiration to write an actual story on them, this would (will) be the prologue.

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><p>Her breath was shallow as she crept through the shadows of the garden. The wind did not whistle; it hung still in the air, tasteless and stale and taunting. Absent was the comforting lull of the waves and the saltiness on her lips.<p>

She was in unfamiliar territory, bordering on enemy.

Unfamiliar may have been an overstatement though. While she did not recognize the winding paths that had become overgrown and tangled, she was able to locate the palace - specifically, a certain window.

Bending the lock and hoisting herself up, she slipped inside with relative ease. The clamminess that had once overcome her was starting to dissipate. She used a long tendril-like whip of water to navigate through the dark corridors.

When she came to his golden-plated door, she stood in awe. It had been two years since she had stood in that very place, much younger but just as wide-eyed. The nostalgia had her balking - and then she settled into a familiar routine, slipping a key from the inside of her silky shawl.

The click was all it took - it had always been all it took.

He was up with a blade pressed against her throat before she could shut the door behind her.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

She couldn't quite breathe, and she knew it wasn't because of the blade teasing the skin above her collarbone. It was the nearness of the man in front of her, his visibly distressed jawline and eyes guarded.

Contrary to popular belief, his skin was cold against hers; she was the one on fire beneath his touch.

"I - " she breathed, began to breathe, but he suddenly dropped the blade and stalked to stand beside his bed.

Of all the reactions she had played out in her head - of all the fantasies - she had not imagined this one.

"Before all of this goes down, I just needed… I just wanted…"

She reached a hand toward one of his but immediately regretted it. In a flash, she was pinned against the same golden door she had stood outside just moments before.

His breath was hot, not at all like the coolness of his skin, and his grip was steely. She would've winced if she had not been so intent on meeting his formidable gaze.

"You are now the enemy," he hissed at her, and in that moment she knew he was angry and started to think it was a mistake going there. "Again. You are the enemy. Again."

She had wanted to see them before the Fire Nation was invaded by the Earth Kingdom. While the poles were split on who they were backing, hers had just recently spoken to take sides of the Earth. After it all, she still could not bring herself to turn against her family.

His eyes kept skipping nervously over her body, trying and failing to read her eyes. She was vaguely reminded of once-upon-a-time when he had been chasing them, in the very beginning. It had been their first meeting, their first skin-on-skin contact. All she could recall was how the pirates were such a different threat than he had been; he was dangerous in a delicate manner that threatened to explode.

"You know as well as I that there was nothing we could do – "

"If you would've stayed – "

"That wouldn't have changed anything, and you know it – "

"Dammit, I can't. I can't do this with you."

They stared at each other for a long moment in which she could feel the dryness of the air against her skin, papery and thin. And then he kissed her, all anger, and she tilted her head back to relish the pain of his lips on hers. He dipped to her neck, still keeping her hands locked in his grip.

She struggled at first, not against his touch but to say more, to explain herself, but he did not give in to her weak efforts. Instead, he worked her for what she was worth.

She had known what she was getting into,_ who _she was dealing with; she just couldn't help herself.

He didn't even move them to her bed; she cried out as he fucked her against the gold-plated door of the Fire Lord's private quarters.


End file.
